Lack of money, lack of time... [are] the testing stages and they need to be like this. (On being an unsigned band)

As the Metal 2 The Masses (M2TM) kicks into full swing with heats across the breadth of the UK and abroad taking place, bands progressing whilst some fall by the wayside, it's once again time for GMA to probe the bands who have entered this prestigious competition that allows the eventual region winners to earn a slot at playing the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival near Burton-Upon-Trent.

Third up is Callus from Lancashire; questions answered by guitarist / vocalist Louis Clarke.

Debut EP out now

For those not in the know, please explain how Callus formed?

"Callus formed in early 2013 in Lancaster, Ben and I had been friends since high school and enjoyed the same bands and getting pissed together, so it was only natural that we wanted to form a band. We encountered Mark shortly after and that's when things really clicked for us and when we knew we had the proper line-up. I think we played our first show with Mark in Barrow, Cumbria."

Is this your first time in M2TM? If no when did you previously enter? If yes what are your emotions like?

"This will be our second stab at M2TM, we played last years event in Burnley. We are like a caged violent demon-boar at this point... ready to bust loose and launch an assault on all of your senses."

How important is the M2TM initiative for unsigned bands? Irrespective of whether they win their regional heats?

"I do think M2TM is pretty important for unsigned bands, obviously it gets them in there with a chance at playing the main event. Not only that, but with all the attention that the heats get it makes the nights pretty awesome in themselves, which is still great if you are like us last year getting knocked out in the first round (!). The nights always end up being heavily populated as far as we can tell."

What is the Lancashire scene like? Please tell us about local bands, venues, etc.

"Lancashire's scene is pretty good, we try not to take too much notice on what everyone else is doing in scenes though. We like to do our own thing really, if people enjoy it then that's amazing and that makes our night, if not then that's cool as well we enjoy it all the same.

As far as local bands go Lancaster can boast some pretty meaty bands especially with the likes of Bloodyard (who of course won M2TM a couple of years ago) and Insurgency really starting to break out and make a name for themselves. A favourite band of ours is Boss Keloid although they probably don't know it... it blows my mind that something so original and moving came out of Lancashire, Wigan I think to be precise. Of course Manchester seems to be "Where its all happening" though.

As far as venues we love the Yorkshire House (Lancaster) to bits, and we have grown especially fond of The Dark Room at Roper Hall, Preston. Both killer venues."

Will you be going to Bloodstock even if you don't progress to the finals?

"I think at least one of us may go to Bloodstock this year, but last years line-up was outstanding and pretty hard to top for us... A bunch of us went though even though we didn't get through our round of M2TM. With the likes of Boss Keloid, Foetal Juice, Rotting Christ, Gojira, Mastodon and Slayer it was too good to miss. We also made sure to catch After The Abduction who we have played with before at The Alma Inn, Bolton and The Star and Garter, Manchester (two more awesome venues in Lancashire), who won last years M2TM... those guys bossed the New Blood stage."

What are the hardest challenges of running an unsigned band these days?

"One of the hardest challenges of running an unsigned band has to be a matter of time and money... two of us each have kids, all of us have jobs and responsibilities yeah it can be tough. Lack of money, lack of time... its all a test but that's life its just how it goes. These are the testing stages and they need to be like this. Although if someone wants to sign us and pay for our shit then we will have a chat right?"

What plans do you have for the rest of the year and are there any messages you wish to send out to people?

"The plan for the rest of the year is play as many shows as we can and try to reach as many people as we can. We just released our first E.P. as well called Through, Blood, Sweat, Piss and Pain so we want to support that as much as we can and drill that into as many peoples heads as possible. We have something really big planned for early next year so we are trying to build up as much momentum as possible.

Come to a show if you haven't already, you might be surprised... you might not... still reading?Congratulations if you got this far! Through, Blood, Sweat, Piss and Pain."

As the Metal 2 The Masses (M2TM) kicks into full swing with heats across the breadth of the UK and abroad taking place, bands progressing whilst some fall by the wayside, it's once again time for GMA to probe the bands who have entered this prestigious competition that allows the eventual region winners to earn a slot at playing the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival near Burton-Upon-Trent.

Second up is Black Atlas from Luton; questions answered by guitarist Peter Hunt.

How did Black Atlas form and what is the meaning behind the band name?

"Black Atlas formed through a want to get back out on the local scene and play music we enjoyed. We had all been in previous bands at one point with one member or another. We gelled together pretty quickly, working on a few song ideas which have stuck with us since the beginning.

The name came through the normal pain of us passing ideas around. Black Atlas was an idea Peter had knocked about for a while. As a few of our favourite bands are Black Sabbath and Black Label Society we went with it. The idea behind it is a simple combination of Black signifying the music as it simply defines Heavy Music. Atlas is to show we pull influences from a range of bands, and that we don't want our music to be defined by borders."

What range of influences do you take? Band-wise and sound-wise?

"This question would have a massive list of bands, but I guess our main core influences fall as;Kyuss; Corrosion of Conformity; Fu Manchu; Black Sabbath; Black Label Society; Alice in Chains. Those bands show what we are about and capture the sound we want to put across."

Is this your first time participating in M2TM? (If yes are you / were you nervous? If no what emotions were / are you feeling?)

"We actually took part last year as well. It was great fun. Even though we were did not progress we really enjoyed it. The mix of bands was great, showcasing all varieties of heavy music.

We are also fortunate to know previous winners in bands such as Scar City and Countless Skies. That makes it a lot more real, seeing local bands we've played with or know from the scene. We've all seen BOTB competitions, and with rubbish on TV like X Factor and the Voice manufacturing bands and artists, M2TM is something which is a lot more relatable and to us will have a greater longevity and meaning than the others. It's just what real music needs."

What is the Luton / Bedfordshire Metal scene like? "We've been knocking around the scene for a few years now. We once got refereed to as the 'old guards' even though we consider ourselves still young. Overall the scene is healthy, there is always young blood coming in so there is never a shortage of bands. I think the main struggle we've seen is the willingness for venues to support heavy music. Getting a crowd down and making nights successful for a venue has been what has hit the scene the hardest. We've seen a few venues close, and some fortunately open up again. Too many people would prefer to pay money to see someone play a cover of a song someone else sings, and was most likely written by another person. The best thing about metal though is it doesn't die. With ongoing support from promoters like Luton Lives and Bedford Alternative Music it has all lived and will always live."

What hobbies does the band have outside of music?

"We've all got a collective mix really. Peter is into his cars, running a Japanese car club and probably spending too much money on them. He also enjoys his photography and is a keen cinema goer. Wilson also has a passion for cars, and usually if you don't find us playing music we will be tinkering on our cars. He also has his own business. SWFX (swfxpedals.co.uk) He designs and builds custom stomp boxes/pedals. We actually use a lot of them in our sound. From fuzz pedals, to custom wahs and delays.

Mikey recently became a father for the second time. So he has his hands full looking after a the little one currently. Aside from that he enjoys his 5 a side football. He used to also scout bands back in a previous life, working with Basick Records finding some great new artists. Jimi is a big horror fan and a prominent gig goer. He used to support the local scene by putting on gigs around Luton and support Luton Lives in its early days. We all like to keep fit as well, through either the gym or running.

What plans do you have for the rest of the year?

"Our main goal for this year is to be gigging more, building up a solid fan base and then spreading too some wider locations. We're working on some new material as well, writing new songs and developing our overall sound.

We are also looking to do some more recording to follow up our debut EP, and then hopefully tie that in with a video. And while all that's going on we will have a right old laugh as well. As you've got to enjoy what you do."